Edmonton Folk Fest Fun!

On Wednesday (August 5th) I spent the evening with my Mom at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival at Gallagher Park. Both Tracy Chapman and Sarah McLachlan were fantastic. The hill was a sight to behold with thousands of people and hundreds of twinkling lights. Tracy performed many of my favourite songs including "Mountain O' Things" and "Talkin' About a Revolution." Sarah performed "Angel", Joni Mitchell's "River", "Ice Cream" and several other hits...

The Edmonton Folk Fest is now celebrating its 30th year. Hard to believe that I've attended more than 90% of those years. As a child the festival was small (with attendance in the low to mid hundreds) and while our parents enjoyed the music and relaxed atmosphere; us kids spent the weekend sliding down the steep hill on cardboard boxes or playing in the playground. During rainy weather we would scour the park for stakes and branches (or anything else that would be helpful for creating a plastic tarp lean-to). Then we would read, sleep or play card games while attempting to stay dry or dance in the sometimes knee deep mud until we were soaking wet and exhausted. Today, the festival is a huge event with more than eighty thousand attendees each year. Of course, sliding on the hill is no longer permitted (there's no room for it anyway) and the rules and regulations are now more stringent then the years of my youth; which is hardly surprising considering the number of people. It's still an amazing event though and I certainly hope that my children will have fond memories from future years at the Folk Fest too! Perhaps DH and I will make plans to attend next year's festival with JG and our newest addition due in March.

Tantrums, Teething and Grandma...

I can't believe JG is already 21 months old as of yesterday. We went to the lake today and visited with family and JG's Grandma (My Mom). My Mom has been living in California for a couple of years now and so, we don't get to see her very often. The last time JG spent time with her was at Christmas when she flew in for a quick week-long visit.

JG however, isn't always receptive to other people's exuberant interactions. Like many toddlers he is still learning the fine social skills of interactive play. Throwing a ball back and forth for example, is difficult to encourage. Not that he won't toss a ball but, it isn't necessarily going to be in your direction.

Tantrums are also more frequent than they used to be and of course DH and I are not always sure how to handle them when we are outside the home and under the eye of public scrutiny. With JG's recent teething (he's currently getting his back molars) it is often difficult to discern whether JG is simply throwing a tantrum or if he is just hurting. Food wars are also more prevalent. JG has become more picky recently; and again, it is difficult to distinguish his stubbornness to try a new food from his lack of appetite or desire to eat. Of course, DH and I find it even more difficult to deal effectively with these situations with an audience of family members present. Although, everyone seems to have well intentioned suggestions regarding tantrums, teething, fussiness, food wars and countless other scenarios; I still find it more challenging to cope when we're outside of our home.